The film shows how the women’s movement emerged from the
anti-war and civil rights movements, and shows what the women learned from the
civil rights movement. The motivation for most of the women in founding these
organizations was employment, putting an end to employment discrimination, but
of course many other issues soon sprang from these initial meetings. There is a
lot of interesting footage from this time. It’s so depressing to see footage of
men within the student movements reacting negatively to the emerging women’s
movement. Even the very people you’d think they’d be able to count on for
support initially reacted negatively.
What’s wonderful is that the film includes interviews
with many of the women in leadership positions within the movement, so that we
see footage of them from that time and then footage of them now. People like
Jacqui Ceballos, Muriel Fox, Mary Jean Collins, Kate Millett, Rita Mae Brown
and Heather Boot are interviewed, and these interviews really function almost
like narration. The women are allowed to tell their stories, and thus the
larger story, and in the process do away with the need for an outside narrator.
Heath Booth says: “The big insight of the women’s movement was that personal
is political. Problems that you felt were happening to you alone probably were
your fault. But if it’s happening to other people, then it’s a social problem
and not just a personal problem.” And Susan Griffin in an interview reads
some of her poetry. What might be surprising is the wonderful humor to the
poetry of the movement (surprising because usually when people are involved in
a movement, they take themselves rather too seriously).
This documentary presents footage of various
demonstrations, including some I was previously unaware of, such as the burning
of college degrees to show that the schools had taught them nothing of women’s
place in history and art. There is also footage of early meetings of women’s
organizations. Another thing I had never heard of before was The Chicago
Women’s Liberation Rock Band. There is footage of them performing, and this
band is actually really good. (I just looked them up, and apparently they did
release one record. I need to get a copy of this on CD.)
I also had no idea about the child care bill that Richard
Nixon vetoed. Just imagine if that bill had gone into effect. Would things be
different now? Perhaps. But the film returns to the current battle in Texas,
and as on interviewee says, “The bitter lesson is that no victories are
permanent.”
Special Features
This DVD contains a lot of bonus footage. There is
footage on the first feminist comic book, with an interview with its creator,
Trina Robbins (who is immediately lovable). There is also some material on the
sit-in at The Ladies’ Home Journal, featuring interviews with a few of
the women involved and including some great news coverage from the time. Other
subjects tackled in the bonus footage include marriage, civil rights,
organizing demonstrations, and poetry readings (including a funny anecdote
involving Allen Ginsberg). The film’s trailer is also included.
She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry was directed by
Mary Dore, and was released on DVD on March 1, 2016 through Music Box Films. By
the way, I love this film’s title.
No comments:
Post a Comment